Buckle.



PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

BUCKLE.

D. L. SMITH.

Vivi/ ig APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, 1.902.

N0 MODEL.

'mcmcmus mzns co. wow-mun. mswmmqn uv cv UNITED STATE Patented June 14,1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

DWIGHT L. SMITH, OF WVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WATERBURYBUCKLE CO., OF IVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,662, dated June 14,1904. Application filed February 14, 1902. Serial No. 94,098. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

I Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of Waterbury, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and usefulImprovement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in-

. Figure 1, afront view of a rustless buckle constructed in accordancewith my invention; Fig. 2, a'rear View thereof; Fig. 3, a front view of.the buckle with the lever raised to show the finger of the frame passedthrough a slit in the loop formed in the webbing for the attachment ofthe webbing to the lower side ofthe frame; Fig. 4., an edge view of thebuckle with the webbing applied thereto; Fig. 5,a view in verticalcentral section through the webbing and buckle; Fig. 6, a detached frontview of one of the modified forms which the buckle-frame may assume;Fig. 7 ,a View ofthe buckle-frame shown in Fig. 6 with the webbingattached to its lower side by means of stitching; Fig. 8, an edge Viewof a bucklewebbing in accordance with Figs. 6 and 7; Fig. 9, a detachedfront View of another modified form of buckle-frame.

- My invention relates to an improvement in that class ofsuspender-buckles called rustless, for the reason that the webbing isdisposed so that the perspiration of the wearer is kept away from themetal, the object being to produce a simple, compact, effective, andconvenient buckle constructed with particular reference to economy ofwebbing and to the avoidance of the production of any such humps orbunches of webbing upon the back of the webbed buckle as will interferewith the comfort of the wearer.

- With these ends in view my invention consists in a rustlesssuspenderbuckle having certain details of construction and combinationsof parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in theclaims.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5,inclusivc,thc buckleframe or loop membercomprises alower side vhing and the buckle made A, ends B B, and anupper side which consists of two inwardly-turned pintle ends C C, whichmay, if desired, be extended to meet each other, as shown by Fig. 9.Under this construction a threading-opening D is formed between theupper and lower sides of the frame. The said lower side A of the saidbuckle frame is bent downward midway of its length to form a finger orprojection E, which is located in the plane'of the frame. Thesheet-metal lever comprises an operatingarm F, a clamping arm or edge G,located at an angle thereto, and two sockets H, which receive the pintleends C C, whereby the lever and frame are pivotally connected together.Under this construction and arrangement of the buckle-frame and leverwhen they are properly proportioned the clamping edge G of the levercoacts with the upper edge or top of the lower side A of thebuckle-frame to pinch and grip the webbing I, which for convenience Ishall speak of as having an upper reach I and a lower reach I, theseterms being chosen somewhat arbitrarily to designate that portion of thewebbing above and below the buckle proper.

To web the buckle, one end of the webbing I is passed from rear to frontthrough the threading-opening D of the buckle-frame and turned downwardto produce a loop I the free end of which is formed witha transverseslit J, through which the finger E is passed, as shown by Figs. 3 and 5,whereby the webbing is fastened without stitches to the lower side A ofthe buckle-frame. The webbing is then passed through a cast-off 1* andfrom front to rear through the opening D, after which the buckle-leveris pressed down, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5, whereby its clamping edgeforces the webbing from front to rear over the lower side of thebuckle-frame, the webbing being not only gripped by the edge of thelever, but also pinched between the same and the lower side of the frameand forced into close frictional contact with the bend of the loop Iwhere the same surrounds the lower side of the frame. In this manner theback of the buckle is covered with webrustless not will:

only with the utmost economy of webbing, but also without the productionof any such bunches or humps upon the back of the buckle as canincommode the wearer, for when the webbing is under draft or strain, asin use, its upper and lower reaches 1 and I will be brought into line orsubstantially into line, making the back of the buckle substantiallyfiat. Inasmuch as the finger E is passed through the slit J, there willbe a double thickness of webbing back of the finger, which will push thecentral portion of the webbing where so doubled rearward out of theplane of the lower reach I of the webbing, as shown at I in Figs. 4 and5, which being drawn on an enlarged scale make this displacement of thewebbing back of the finger D much more prominent than it is in practice,in which itis unobjectionable. When the webbing is under draft, it actsupon the finger E as upon a lever to keep the buckle-frame from tiltingor rocking, which might result in releasing the webbing.

In the modified form of buckle-frame shown by Figs. 6, 7 and 8 of thedrawings the frame has a continuous upper side K, endsLL, and a lowerside M, midway of the length of which the ends of the wire depend toform a finger- N, which is embraced by a strap or clip 0. Thisbuckle-frame has a threading-opening P. Instead of fastening the webbingto the lower side of the buckle-frame by passing the finger of the framethrough a slit in the loop end of the webbing the webbing may be appliedas shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in which its end is passed from front to rearthrough the threading-opening P of the frame, so as to form a loop Q andstitched down upon itself by stitches R, whereby the finger N isconfined between the two sides of the loop. The webbingmay be fastenedto the buckle-frame by slitting it and passing the finger of the framethrough the slit, as described in conjunction with Figs. 3, t, and 5, orit may be passed through the buckle-frame and stitched down upon itself,as described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8. These two ways offastening the buckle-frame may be used alone, or, if desired, they maybe used in conjunction.

I do not broadly claim a rustless buckle in which the lever isconstructed and arranged with reference to the buckle-frame so that theclamping edge of the lever will force the upper reach of the webbingover or substantially over the upper edge or top of the lower side ofthe frame, that being broadly the invention of Morris Peller and shownand described in his pending application, filed January 8, 1902,seriatly numbered 88,854.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a rustless Suspender-buckle, the combination with a frame havingan upper and a lower side with an opening between the same,

the lower side having a downward projection midway of its length, of alever pivoted to the upper side of the frame in positionto have itsclamping edge coact with the upper edge or top of the lower side of theframe, and a piece of webbing having its lower reach attached to thelower side of the frame and its upper reach passed from front to rearthrough the said opening and engaged by the clamping edge of the leverwhich deflects it over or approximately over the upper edge or top ofthe lower side of the frame.

2. In a rustless suspender-buckle, the combination with a frame madefrom a single piece of wire bent to form two pintles forming the upperside of the frame, a bar forming the lower side of the frame, and afinger depending from the said bar midway the length thereof, and thesaid bar being separated from the pintles by an opening, of a leverpivoted to the said pintles in position to have its clamping edge coactwith the upper edge or top of the lower side of the frame, and a pieceof webbing having its lower reach attached to the lower side of theframe and its upper reach passed from front to rear through the saidopening and engaged by the clamping edge of the lever which deflects itover or approximately over the upper edge or top of the lower side ofthe frame, whereby the upper reach of the webbing is brought into orapproximately into line with the lower reach of the webbing on the backof the buckle when the webbing is under draft as in use.

3. A buckle consisting of two members, one member in the form of a loop,with a finger formed integral therewith and extending downward therefromin the plane of the loop; the other a lever member having a pivotal partand two arms, one a clamping-arm and the other an operating-arm, saidlever member pivotally mounted on the loop member and rotatable withrespect thereto, in combination with a Web attached to the loop member,another portion of the web passing through the loop member, theelarnping=arm of the lever member being so proportioned and dis posed asto press the web which passes through the loop member toward thatportion of the loop member to which the web is attached.

4. In a buckle, the combination with a loop member having a projectionmidway one of its longitudinal sides, of a lever member pivotallymounted on the loop member and rotatable with respect thereto, saidlever member having two arms at an angle to each other, one aclamping-arm and the other an operating-arm, and a web attached to theloop member, another portion of the web passing through the loop member,the clamping-arm of the lever member being so proportioned and disposedas to press the web which passes through the loop member over theportion of the loop member to which the web is attached.

5. In a buckle, the combination with a loop member having anoutwardly-extending projection midway one of its longitudinal sides, ofa lever member pivotally mounted on the loop member and rotatable withrespect thereto, said lever member having two arms at an angle to eachother, one a clamping-arm and the other an operating-arm, and a webattached to the loop member, another portion of the web passing throughthe loop member, the clamping-arm of the lever member being soproportioned and disposed as to press the web which passes through theloop member over the portion of the loop member to which the web isattached.

6. A buckle consisting solely of two members, one member in the form ofan oblong loop having a projection from one of its longitudinal sides,the other a lever member having a pivotal part and two arms. one aclamping-arm, the other an operating-arm, said lever member pivotallymounted on the loop member and rotatable with respect thereto on an axisextending in the direction of its length, in combination with a webattached to the longitudinal side of the loop member opposite to thatupon which the lever member is pivoted, a portion of said web passingthrough the loop member, the clamping-arm of thelever member being soproportioned and disposed as to press the web which passes through theloop member, approximately over the longitudinal side of said loopmember to which the web is attached.

7. In a rustless Suspender-buckle, the combination with a buckle-framecomprising an upper and a lower side, and having a webbing-openinglocated between the said upper and lower sides and lying in their plane,the said lower side being formed with a downward projection; of a levercomprising a finger-piece and a clamping edge, the latter extendinginwardly from the upper portion of the former, and the said lever beinglocated in front of the said frame and pivoted to the upper side thereofin position to have its clamping edge coact with the upper edge or topof the lower side thereof; and a piece of webbing having its lower reachformed with a loop embracing the lower side of the frame, whereby thewebbing is attached to the frame, and its upper reach passed from frontto rear through the said opening of the frame, and engaged by theclamping edge of the lever which deflects it rearwardly over orapproximately over the upper edge or top of the lower side of the frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

DWIGHT L. SMITH. Witnesses:

WM. L. KING, MINNIE M. M. TRIPP.

